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On Sunday, Feb. 3, the circus came to the Maine Center for the Arts. But this was no normal circus. There would be no fire-eaters, no tigers jumping through hoops, no clowns smashing pies into each other’s faces. This was the New Shangai Circus of the People’s Republic of China.
Chinese acrobatics have been present in China for over 2500 years. They made their first appearance at annual harvest celebrations in which the country’s village people would come together to celebrate the past year’s harvest. As a form of entertainment, common people would perform daring stunts of strength, balance and flexibility, utilizing household tools and items found around the village farms.
Such stunts eventually grew into a sort of art form, as each generation of performers reached to new limits and extremes, achieving skills that would be passed down through the ages to “become the feats of strength, balance and grace that are the unique tradition of China,” according to the historical summary in the MCA program.
On Sunday, some of China’s finest and most talented acrobats and performers traveled to Orono to share with the American public amazing feats that are the demonstration of Chinese ideals.
The circus that arrived at the MCA was comprised of an elderly ringleader, seven male performers and 11 females. In terms of form, the males mostly played the roles of spotters and dancers, while the young females ranging in ages from 12 to 22 performed the breathtaking feats and stunts, each seemingly more difficult and extravagant than the previous.
The first of 12 acts consisted of a young girl lying on her back atop a sort of footrest, her feet sticking straight up in the air. Her assistant proceeded to hand her a large picture, which she was then able to flip on its sides and edges, balancing it on the balls of her feet and toes. She was then given an umbrella which she was able to open and close with her toes, flip upside down and twirl around and around with her toes, never allowing it to slow or fall.
As if this feat was not amazing enough, it was followed in the next act by a young girl who wheeled herself onto the stage atop an eight to 10 foot unicycle. While holding herself steadily in one place, the girl fixed a bowl on top of her head, and then proceeded to catch a succession of bowls, cups and silverware that an assistant threw to her from stage level.
Other similar stunts involved a young girl in the fourth act balancing on top of a board that was set on the side of a can. As if it wasn’t difficult enough to balance on a can that was rolling back and forth, she then added two more cans and proceeded to jump back onto the board with her hands, balancing in a handstand on top of three unstable cans. She gradually reached a total of five cans, at which point she then was able to not only keep her balance, but also flip two rings around her body.
As if to give the audience a short time to recuperate from what they had just witnessed, the next act consisted of the ringleader and his assistant performing magic tricks, turning a one dollar bill into a 20 and making balloon animals for children in the crowd. The climax of this act consisted of the ringleader and a hand-picked assistant from the audience tying up a female performer until she was completely bound and unable to move.
Miraculously, however, she was able to pull on the audience member’s coat, somehow completing this with all of the ropes still tightly fastened around her body.
After the intermission, however, followed the most impressive stunts. One consisted of two males holding a long, thin, trapeze that was about the length and width of a balance beam. Two girls took turns jumping onto the beam. The first flew high into the air and flipped in and out of a ring before somehow landing on the thin beam. A little girl followed her, somersaulting five or more times in the air, and then twirling a total of seven or eight times before again resting on the beam. The little girl then proceeded to sit on top of the other girl’s shoulder. With the older girl’s command, she jumped up into the air, and then the little girl on top of her grabbed her arms, and they both completed a somersault in the air before returning to the beam, the little girl still securely sitting on her partner’s shoulders.
A few acts later, a young girl was handed a lighted candelabra, which she placed on the ball of her foot. With perfect balance, she was then able to bend her body every which way, twisting her hips and completing painful-looking stretches, all the while continuing to balance the candelabra on the bottom of her foot. She then was handed more candelabras, until she was balancing one on each foot, hand and on her forehead. Somehow, she was once again able to stretch, turn and twirl while still balancing all five candelabras.
One of the last acts consisted of five girls climbing on top of a sort of chair stack, about four chairs propped delicately on top of one another. They managed to do handstands on this stack, and then were each handed another chair. The first girl stood on her chair, and then grabbed onto the back of another girl’s chair. That girl then climbed onto her chair and held onto the back of another girl’s, and so on. When all were in correct position, they somehow managed to balance themselves on the edges of each other’s chairs and then do handstands on top of a chair stack reaching almost to the MCA’s ceiling.
The circus’ conclusion received a standing ovation from an awe-struck audience better accustomed to the standard clown and tightrope walker than acrobatics.
Bangor Daily News